Isolation= perfection?
As I was attempting to decide which reading, scientist or ideal was best to focus on for my first blog posting, I found myself continually coming back to this ideal of Utopia found in Francis Bacon's New Atlantis. I began to wonder just how a Utopia might work if it were indeed possible to form.
Realistically, Utopias are impossible to develop, at least on our modern Earth. With so many differing opinions between societies as well as within them, it would be ridiculous to ever even consider forming a Utopian society. However, it brings up a subject for debate in my mind; if, as in New Atlantis, a group of people were able to isolate themselves from the rest of mankind from the beginning of their existence, would a Utopia actually be possible? It seems that, in such isolation, people would have to have very similar views of the world due to their lack of outside resources and opinions. If one person became the leader of such a group, and had a certain set of ideals, what else would the people have the ideals to compare to?
In New Atlantis, the people of the nation of Bensalem know of other countries and peoples around the world, but they themselves remain unknown; this allows them to keep up their Utopian society without outside forces interfering with their way of life. However, I can't help but wonder if in fact this would actually cause discontent among the people of Bensalem. While yes, their society is "perfect", it seems like there would have to be a group of people, or at least a single individual, on the island who would look at the ways of other countries and wonder whether they should change some of their ways in order to be more like the rest of the world, be it governmentally, socially, or religiously. This would cause discontent within the Utopian society, and lead to more problems and arguments, disqualifying the land as a Utopia.
I feel that Bensalem would not be able to remain a Utopia as it does in New Atlantis because of the knowledge they acquired of other countries around the globe. It seems that a society would need to be in complete isolation from others in order to remain Utopian, for with other countries and their ideals displayed to the people of a Utopia, the Utopia would be no more; but of course, as the word Utopia literally means, "no place" can really be that perfect in reality.
Realistically, Utopias are impossible to develop, at least on our modern Earth. With so many differing opinions between societies as well as within them, it would be ridiculous to ever even consider forming a Utopian society. However, it brings up a subject for debate in my mind; if, as in New Atlantis, a group of people were able to isolate themselves from the rest of mankind from the beginning of their existence, would a Utopia actually be possible? It seems that, in such isolation, people would have to have very similar views of the world due to their lack of outside resources and opinions. If one person became the leader of such a group, and had a certain set of ideals, what else would the people have the ideals to compare to?
In New Atlantis, the people of the nation of Bensalem know of other countries and peoples around the world, but they themselves remain unknown; this allows them to keep up their Utopian society without outside forces interfering with their way of life. However, I can't help but wonder if in fact this would actually cause discontent among the people of Bensalem. While yes, their society is "perfect", it seems like there would have to be a group of people, or at least a single individual, on the island who would look at the ways of other countries and wonder whether they should change some of their ways in order to be more like the rest of the world, be it governmentally, socially, or religiously. This would cause discontent within the Utopian society, and lead to more problems and arguments, disqualifying the land as a Utopia.
I feel that Bensalem would not be able to remain a Utopia as it does in New Atlantis because of the knowledge they acquired of other countries around the globe. It seems that a society would need to be in complete isolation from others in order to remain Utopian, for with other countries and their ideals displayed to the people of a Utopia, the Utopia would be no more; but of course, as the word Utopia literally means, "no place" can really be that perfect in reality.
posted by Amanda P at 12:17 PM
2 Comments:
This is an interesting thought: does isolation help or hurt a Utopian society? Initially, isolation prevents corruption from the outside world from invading an ideal society. If the society was entirely ignorant of the world around them, would there be any rebels? This is a question of human nature…are humans good-natured as John Locke believed or is human nature evil and corrupt as Thomas Hobbes once described it? This philosophical question is at the heart of the possibility of a Utopian world.
Bacon’s The New Atlantis seems to follow the positive, optimistic view of human nature, as the inhabitants of Bensalem live in this Utopian world and once the story concludes, spread their wealth of knowledge for the good of humanity. Returning back to my initial question about isolation helping or harming Utopia, I believe human nature is at least slightly flawed so a completely isolated system would eventually tumble. Therefore, the fact that the people of Bensalem know of the outside world but are unknown themselves, seems to be a plausible setup for Utopia. They can study and learn from other society’s mistakes and benefit from the positive influences.
The only problem is remaining isolated. As the story concludes, Bensalem is found and Utopia is finished. Perhaps Bensalem was the perfect Utopia if the explorers hadn’t come around?
Here’s a website that has a good comparison between Locke and Hobbes, but it’s only a personal page so don’t assume everything is accurate.
I agree that isolation wouldn't exactly help in the establishment of a Utopian society. After all, as shown in Lord of the Flies, isolation can actually serve as a breeding ground for the darker sides of human nature (that are at least somewhat suppressed by societal rules). With no input from the outside world (and thus no traces of established society), it is highly probable that the human desire for self preservation will dominate an isolated group of people.
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